Mammoth Apostle
Mammoth Apostle was a mark IV American jaeger. The second American mark IV, Mammoth was stationed at the Los Angeles Shatterdome until its destruction in 2024. History Early Combat History Mammoth Apostle was launched on May 25, 2018. It was the second of the mark IV line of jaegers, the first of which was Hydra Corinthian. Mammoth primarily defended the American West Cost for 6 years until its destruction in 2024. Clawhook Mammoth Apostle's first deployment came slightly over a year after launch against the cat III kaiju "Clawhook." After an uneventful tussle with Mammoth off the coast of Santa Monica, Clawhook changed course and headed for San Diego. Gipsy Danger briefly intercepted it before the two engaged in a three-hour game of cat and mouse, in which Gipsy desperately struggled to prevent the elusive Clawhook from making landfall. Shortly after Mammoth arrived from Santa Monica, Gipsy managed to lure Clawhook towards the waiting Mk.IV. Clever maneuvering by Mammoth's pilots sent Clawhook barreling into an undersea boulder, after which the kaiju was pounded senseless and hurled in Gipsy's direction. The Beckets let loose five bolts of plasma into Clawhook's midsection for the kill. Knifehead On February 29, 2020, the Breach spat out the largest category III. Spectrometer buoys along the American West Coast picked it up near San Diego, prompting deployment from the Los Angeles Shatterdome. Mammoth Apostle and Romeo Blue waited off Santa Monica's Miracle Mile for three hours without making contact. At the eve of the fourth hour, LOCCENT confirmed that Knifehead had run up North. Both jaegers were called back in as Anchorage prepared to deploy Gipsy Danger. Hidoi Hidoi breached on May 9, 2021 and headed for Bangkok. Although Shaolin Rogue and Horizon Brave intercepted it near the Strait of Malacca, both jaegers failed to gain the advantage. The 8-hour struggle ended when Hidoi swam towards the Gulf of Thailand, Bangkok squarely in its sights. Mammoth was deployed from the Hong Kong Shatterdome, reaching Bangkok just as Hidoi closed in. Mammoth rammed the kaiju head-on, her sheer bulk sending Hidoi flying into the sea. Before it could recover, Hidoi was pinned down and blasted in the face by Mammoth's incendiary burners. This was followed by successive punches to the beast'e ribcage, sending shards of bone ripping through its vital organs. When it became clear that Hidoi wasn't going anywhere, Mammoth proceeded to savagely pound its face in with slow, strategic jackhammer-punches. Since Hidoi remained alive even after its primary brain had been pulped, Mammoth snapped a clawed arm and ripped it out, thrusting it into Hidoi's stomach. One final jackhammer-punch to the mutilated kaiju drove its own claw straight through its spine. Fulminatrix The category IV Fulminatrix breached on April 30, 2024. K-Watch predicted it would head for Okinawa, inciting a massive scramble for Korea and Japan. After a brief encounter with Crimson Typhoon and Nova Hyperion, Fulminatrix made headway for Tokyo with both Mk.IV's in hot pursuit. An attempted double-team off the coast of Nagoya failed when Fulminatrix ambushed Nova from behind and used it as a distraction to elude Typhoon. Mammoth Apostle and Tacit Ronin were standing by in Sapporo when LOCCENT gave the order to engage. Due to the relative inexperience of Ronin's second team(they had only 2 engagements), Mammoth would take point. Fulminatrix made no attempt to run as it dauntlessly charged Mammoth. After striking Fulminatrix down with a double-fisted blow, Mammoth began repeatedly smacking it underwater and picking it up, only to nail it again with a barrage of hooks and jabs. Ronin silently closed in from Fulminatrix's 3 o'clock and began slashing long deep gashes along its side. Twenty minutes later, Fulminatrix wrapped its tail around Mammoth's legs and hurled her onto a rock. As luck would have it, a knotted mass of fishing knots effectively bound Mammoth to the rock. The Americans could only watch as Fulminatrix sank its claws deep within Ronin's torso and began dragging her to shore. By the time Mammoth ripped free of the fishing nets, Fulminatrix had long since made landfall, while Ronin lay in pieces scattered across Sapporo's coastline. Both pilots had been crushed inside the flattened conn-pod. Mammoth and Fulminatrix clashed again at noon. In rage over the death of yet another set of Rangers, Mammoth's pilots mercilessly throttled their quarry and ripped it apart by with their bare hands. By the time Nova and Typhoon arrived, Fulminatrix's mutilated corpse had been strewn across five city blocks. Kojiyama Kojiyama breached on June 13, 2024. Puma Real and Diablo Intercept made contact near Cabo, only to be savagely ripped apart in broad daylight. Cabo was reduced to smoldering ruins as Kojiyama proceeded to Acapulco. An hour later, Mammoth engaged Kojiyama on Acapulco's Miracle Mile. Mammoth was pinned onto a rock. All seemed lost until the pilots chucked an oil tanker at Kojiyama; the kaiju was sent staggering backwards as the tanker exploded. Mammoth tackled the backpedaling Kojiyama and punched off one of its horns. This was jammed into Kojiyama's skull, impaling its brain. The kaiju's neck was snapped for good measure. Destruction When KC-24 breached on October 4, 2024, Mammoth was deployed to Kuching. Striker Eureka would arrive as back-up, but Mammoth would have to hold her own for 1 hour. At this time, Mammoth was the only American jaeger left standing; Hydra Corinthian and Romeo Blue had both gone down earlier. Only three mark IV's remained in service, these being Mammoth, Crimson Typhoon and Nova Hyperion. Little did PPDC marshals know, this number would be whittled down to just two by the end of that day. KC-24 bore a strong resemblance to Knifehead, as both kaiju shared the same body layout and bladed skull. Compared to Knifehead, KC-24 was some 300 tons heavier, more densely armored, and had thicker cables of muscle rippling throughout its body. Its most lethal weapon was a double-split tail, each ending in 40-foot long triple-pronged spikes. Yet KC-24's greatest strength was its unparalleled cunning, which put it on another level to even Kojiyama, who had come close to destroying Mammoth four months prior. KC-24 surged out of the water at 6 P.M. sharp, making no attempt to slither away unnoticed. It feinted with a tail-swipe at Mammoth's conn-pod. The jaeger rolled to the left, only to be tossed back by KC-24's other tail. KC-24 proceeded to ruthlessly pound the stunned Mammoth; its main arms continually targeted Mammoth's conn-pod, while its bladed skull, secondary arms and tail wreaked havoc on the torso. Within twenty minutes, Mammoth was dead in the water; both pilots were panting from the exertion of keeping KC-24 away from their conn-pod, while the jaeger itself was stricken with ravaged joints and a buckled knee. The following offensive from the kaiju effectively sealed Mammoth's fate. KC-24 drilled into Mammoth's right arm until it hung limp. The beast then ripped out Mammoth's other knee, circling hungrily as the jaeger fell over. Mammoth's upper torso was viciously gouged out by KC-24's skull and spiked tails. The pilots' curses were cut short as KC-24 dug its claws into the conn-pod, ripping the frontal hatch open amid a shower of sparks and scorched metal; tearing both pilots out of their harnesses, Dean hanging half out of the conn-pod. Before he could get back inside, KC-24 smashed the hatch down and bisected him, covering Brock and the conn-pod with a massive trail of his own blood. The shockwave caused by the hatch slamming down blacked-out Brock. The kaiju was headed inland long before Mammoth Apostle's flaming hulk hit the seabed. Striker Eureka would not be on-site for another twelve minutes. Thirty minutes later, rescue crews entered Mammoth's ravaged conn-pod to recover the pilots' bodies. They were shocked to find out that Brock was alive, and largely uninjured. Dean's corpse had been crushed to an unrecognizable state. Features Mammoth Apostle, like its name implies, is designed for maximum durability and brute force. It is the largest and heaviest later-generation jaeger, although considerably smaller than some earlier units. The PPDC's design goal for Mammoth was a mark IV Cherno Alpha with astronomically superior strength, armor and speed. Mammoth was envisioned as a "front-line" jaeger, soaking up hits and battering the adversary with devastating punches, granting its faster brethren uninterrupted access to weak spots. Strength Mammoth's tremendous strength output exceeds that of any prior jaeger, matched only by Striker Eureka. Each punch exerts enough force to smash Onibaba's skull with one hit. When amplified by the jackhammer-arms, Mammoth's hitting power is slightly superior to Striker's. Jackhammer attacks are only used to obtain time by battering back a kaiju, as their sheer kinetic force could disrupt the flow of an engagement. Armor Armor accounts for 32% of Mammoth's entire weight. Lightweight B2 Crystal Steel allowed tremendous amounts of armor to be applied without increasing weight. As a result, the armor on Mammoth's limbs is as thick as those on Cherno Alpha's reactor tower, while Mammoth's chest armor is almost twice that amount. Such unprecedented thickness, coupled with a more effective armor layout and cutting-edge alloys, ensured Mammoth's survivability under the harshest conditions. Speed In line with other densely armored jaegers, Mammoth is considerably slow for a mark IV. Its colossal bulk and chunky limbs result in a slow, lumbering gait when running. Such seemingly unimpressive speed is actually quite acceptable, as Mammoth is more nimble than many lighter mark I and II jaegers. In addition, Mammoth's movements are relatively flexible and fluid, enabling it to perform complex Bushido moves without difficulty; this ability is unmatched by any other jaeger of its bulk. Armament In addition to the HB Mk.1 Jackhammer-arms, Mammoth possesses two incendiary burners located on its upper torso. These are used to cauterize Blue and fend off a kaiju if it latches onto the superstructure. Although significantly hotter than Cherno Alpha's incinerator turbines, Mammoth's burners have a limited capacity due to the jaeger's lack of a nuclear reactor; if the burner fuel is exhausted, Mammoth's batteries can fuel the burners for a limited amount of time. Trivia * McGillis and Shughart were Delta Force operators prior to joining the Jaeger Academy. They originally met in the 75th Ranger Regiment, and progressed to Delta Force where they served for 7 years. They were both 36 when Mammoth launched in 2018. * Mammoth participated in 8 engagements. * Mammoth's wreck rusted away in Kuching until 2026. It was then dismantled and sold for scrap, while sections of her arm and torso ended up in Santa Monica. * The B2 Crystal Steel alloy used for Mammoth's armor was actually superior to alloys used on other mark IV's or Striker Eureka. Its astronomical cost prevented it from being applied to other jaegers. * Photographer Andreas Gursky's picture of Mammoth punching KC-24(the image in the infobox) won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize. * As of 2035, Brock Felix is the PPDC's most senior fightmaster. Kaiju Killed Category:Jaegers Category:Mark IV